Expired Fragrances – Alternate Uses When You Just Can't Throw Them Out

Articles on Fragrances | Topics: fragrances, fragrance

by Vimala Underwood

You have had that bottle of perfume at your dressing table for more than three years. It was given to you as a gift and you just can't get rid of it. You know it is beginning to lose its zest and becoming less effective as a perfume. However, you just can't bring yourself to toss it in the garbage. It still smells good, just not with the same concentration as it once did and you know it is in decline. So what can you do? Are there other uses for the fragrance that has expired but still has some good qualities? Of course there are, and you consider some options that may help you use the fragrance and remember the occasion without wearing it.

First you can actually use the perfume as a room freshener. There are a couple of ways to do that. First of all, you can add a few drops to water and simmer it either on your stove top or in a candle warmer. The scent will infiltrate the room. Test it alone first to make sure that the heating does not enhance any beginning of the expired scent spoiling. The steam helps the scent to travel throughout your home and give it a hint of that fragrance you just couldn't bring yourself to get rid of. Use as much or little as is necessary; you will likely have to make adjustments as you go along.

Another option is to use it to revive potpourri. You know you have had that pot of potpourri over in the corner for three years and it no longer smells like anything. It has become nothing more than a bowl full of wood chips and dried out scentless flowers. Add a few drops, or more, of that expired perfume to the mixture to reinvigorate it. The dry potpourri is naturally made to absorb oils like the ones in your perfume. It will then be released back out slowly over time. Again, be sure the smell is still mostly in tact, but if it is this is a great way to get that smell without wearing a perfume that has lost its luster.

Bit of History

In France one must adapt oneself to the fragrance of a urinal.

—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)

Thirdly, use it as a way to add a kick to that memo. If you add just a dab to your stationary, you will draw attention to every work note or personal message you send. In today's email and text message age, the hand written note is somewhat of a dinosaur. You can make a statement by not only hand writing notes and memos on stationary, but also by adding a dab of scent that will immediately let everyone know who the note is from. Scent is closely related to memory, and you can invoke that memory easily with just a touch to the corner of a note.

If you think the scent is still pretty stable for your perfume, you can lighten it up and still get the benefit by putting just a drop or two in your bath. The small amount can set a great baseline of fragrance for you before you put on a fresh spray after you are dressed. The drops can act as a sort of aromatherapy bath scent that will also invoke the memories you have associated with the perfume, which is likely why you had trouble parting with it in the first place. You can also avoid having to buy scented bath oils as long as your older perfume is still good enough for a light scent that you would get by adding just those few drops to your next few baths.

Sometimes things we associate with great memories are hard to part with, even when we know they are no longer good. Consider fragrances. Most of them only last three years at the most under even the best of circumstances. So what do you do when your favorite bottle loses its olfactory luster? Well, if it still has a good scent to it, there are a number of alternatives to tossing the bottle. You can use it as a room scent by adding a few drops to water and simmering over the stove or a candle burner. You can also perk up that old bowl of potpourri that you didn't throw out either. Or you can even add it to your bath if it still has a solid scent to it that has not started to move toward spoiled. No matter what you do, though, you have to use it or you really will lose it.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Expired Fragrances – Alternate Uses When You Just Can't Throw Them Out" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by BeautyHairMakeup.com.

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